Polish mobile giant goes private in €4.5bn deal

POLKOMTEL, the second largest mobile operator in Poland, has been taken private in a €4.5bn deal with local tycoon and Poland’s only billionaire Zygmunt Solorz-Zak. The deal sees Vodafone exit from the country in a controversial move which highlights the brand’s reduced international ambitions. Polkomtel, meanwhile, trading under the PLUS GSM brand has been a big supporter of volleyball in the country in a deal which was praised for the high level of media attention and public recognition it generated. Solorz-Zak has great ambitions to turn PLUS into a big player in mobile data and as a keen yachtsman and tennis player may well use sport to activate public support.